US-based biotechnology company Biogen has announced a $2bn investment to expand its manufacturing operations in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park (RTP).
The significant investment, which comes at the company’s 30th anniversary, aims to enhance its late-stage clinical pipeline.
The expansion will include advanced automation and artificial intelligence to modernise manufacturing technologies and controls.
Since its inception in 1995, Biogen has invested around $10bn in its RTP facilities.
The latest investment will focus on expanding antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) capabilities and establishing clinical and commercial multi-platform fill finish capabilities.
The company plans to continue investing in multiple modalities and factories across its RTP campuses.
Biogen is North Carolina’s largest biotechnology employer and ranks among the top five biopharmaceutical employers in the state.
The company employs over 1,500 manufacturing and technical staff, along with more than 400 skilled contractors across its Wake County and Durham County campuses.
Over 90% of Biogen’s innovator commercial medicines undergo manufacturing and quality control testing in the US.
Its global manufacturing strategy focuses on resilient and high-quality patient supply.
The company employs robust risk management, including geographical risk diversification and dual sourcing.
In addition to its operations in North Carolina, Biogen has a smaller manufacturing footprint outside the US, with a biologics factory in Switzerland and a fill finish site in Ireland.
Biogen pharmaceutical operations and technology head Nicole Murphy said: “We are proud of our longstanding commitment to manufacturing innovation, investment, and collaboration with the Research Triangle Park community.
“Our manufacturing footprint in the United States has played a critical role in Biogen’s history and success, and in advancing the treatments that are making an impact for patients, families, and communities here in the US and around the world.
“With this investment, we will modernise and expand our manufacturing capability to enable our pipeline and provide resilient patient supply, while continuing to support the skilled and dedicated community of life sciences talent in North Carolina.”
Earlier this year, Biogen and City Therapeutics entered a strategic collaboration to develop novel RNA interference (RNAi)-based therapies targeting central nervous system diseases.
The collaboration combines City Therapeutics’ next-generation RNAi engineering technologies with Biogen’s drug development expertise.
